Tale of Bonding
by Tek Sonay
Summary: Naruto, Sakura, and Rock Lee decide to eat a quick lunch together. But all too soon, Naruto's greedy stomach gets the best of him, and he eats something he wishes he hadn't.


**A/N: I recently rediscovered this story in one of my folders. It was an assignment I had to do for a chemistry class, so if you see any strange/unfanfiction-like words in there, you'll understand why. :) I'm leaving them in for you science people to enjoy. **

**By the way, this story is supposed to be simple and silly. I hope it amuses you! It's not quite up to my usual caliber, but . . . maybe someone out there will like it. :)**

**Disclaimer:** **I don't own _Naruto._**

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"Tale of Bonding"_

Naruto, Sakura, and Rock Lee were sitting on the training grounds where Team 7 had participated in their first lesson with Kakashi. Each ninja had brought a lunch and was preparing to enjoy it.

Naruto pulled out a carton of steaming ramen and licked his lips as he split his chopsticks. Sakura carefully opened her binto box and admired the neatly organized rice and sushi rolls. Lee balanced an oversized riceball in one palm and a flask of tea in the other hand, contemplating which to enjoy first during his dieting disciplinary process.

As Naruto was raising a thick wad of noodles to his mouth, he spotted something smooth and mint green in Sakura's binto box.

_'Ooh!'_ he thought. _'Cookie!'_

Like a sneaky ninja, he grabbed that green "cookie" faster than an atom can grab electrons in ionic bonding. His teeth quickly sunk into it as he took a huge bite.

Sakura barely had time to blink before she heard Naruto's muffled scream. She turned to see him spewing green.

"Ew! Gross, Naruto! What's the - HEY!" Sakura peered closer. "That's _my_ wasabi! Naruto, you dobe, you're not supposed to eat it like that!"

"Mah mouf!" Naruto cried, running around in circles as he fanned his face. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. "Ehs hot! Ehs hot!"

"Quickly, Naruto! You must get it out of your mouth before the spiciness bonds to your tongue!" Lee cried, leaping to his feet.

Naruto, eyes wide in panic, practically flew to the nearby stream and dunked his head in. Steam literally rose from the surface of the water as he soaked his tongue.

Lee smacked his forehead. "No, wait, Naruto! . . . Ah . . ." Lee glanced down at Sakura with an apologetic smile. "You see, water only makes it worse."

Sakura stifled a laugh as Naruto's head shot back up for air. "So I can see . . ." she replied.

Naruto quickly ran back to them. His blonde hair was sopping across his forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot. "Ehs stihl burns, Lee! Wha I do?!"

Lee tapped his chin. "Aha!" he exclaimed, presenting his flask of tea. "Here, try a sip of this," he suggested as he transferred the drink to Naruto. He had to quickly pull it back as Naruto nearly downed the entire container.

"I said only a sip!" Lee exclaimed with a laugh. Again, the green-clothed ninja smiled apologetically at Sakura. "I would have preferred to have shared my tea equally with you and Naruto, like most atoms do in covalent bonds. However, it appears that I will have to share it unequally."

Lee offered Sakura the flask with a hopeful smile. She declined graciously.

Naruto had saltwater tears of gratitude streaming down his face. He wiped them away with the back of his orange sleeve and sniffed noisily. Sakura noted that he dropped emotions like electrons drop from elements to become cations.

"Thanks, man," he said to Lee, his tongue finally in a working condition. "You really saved me back there!"

Lee smiled humbly and nodded once. "I only did what a friend would do."

"No, really!" Naruto insisted as he plopped back down on the grass. His fingers found the chopsticks they had dropped earlier. "My head could have, like, burst into flames or something!"

Sakura was becoming quickly annoyed by the apparent compliment banter that was about to occur, so she plucked up a sushi roll with her chopsticks and started bringing it to her lips. "Okay, come on guys, let's eat!" she urged. "We're supposed to meet Kakashi-sensei within the next half-hour!"

"Ah, Sakura, we've got plenty of time!" Naruto drawled. He looked around for his ramen carton with a smile. Sakura was about to plop that sushi in her mouth when she heard Naruto scream for a second time that day. She rolled her eyes. What was it now? She had barely _touched_ her lunch and already there was a problem!

_'I swear,'_ she thought. '_That kid's like an anion, the way he gains problems one after another!'_

"My ramen!" Naruto gazed in despair at the noodles strewn in the dust where he had dropped the carton in his haste. "My beautiful ramen!"

Sakura tried to steel her countenance to almost a metallic edge, but she faltered when Lee spoke.

"It's all right, Naruto," Lee said. "I would be honored to share my lunch with you."

Sakura stared at him in amazement as Lee held out his riceball to Naruto. When he saw her expression, Lee winked. "It is all right, Sakura," he smiled. "It will be good for my training."

Naruto started to reach for the riceball. "Hey, thanks, Lee -"

"Nuh-uh!" Sakura exclaimed, interrupting the exchange. Before the two guys could say anything, Sakura pushed her binto box towards Naruto. "Here," she said to their astonished faces. "Hurry up! We don't have all day."

Naruto gaped at her as he reached for the binto box. "Wow, Sakura. Why?"

"I'm on a diet," she replied, slightly irritated.

"Wow, _again_?"

"Just eat it!"

Rock Lee laughed when he saw Naruto carefully avoid the wasabi.

"Haha! You are not going to eat "green cookies" any time soon, huh, Naruto?" Lee joked.

Naruto downed another sushi roll and grinned. His teeth were green.

"Believe it!" he exclaimed. Suddenly, his eyes started watering.


End file.
